Rain of promises yet to be fulfilled: Kuttanad remains in flood despite reduced rainfall

ALAPPUZHA: Even though the first week of the new academic year has passed, schools in Kuttanad were closed until yesterday. As the knee-deep water in their homes has started receding, those who had sought shelter in camps and relatives' houses are returning. The AC road, which was in the final stages of renovation at a cost of 800 crores with the announcement that it would not be submerged in the flood, also got submerged in the rain.

Kuttanad reconstruction is nothing but crores of rupees and projects that have reached nowhere after every heavy rain. There is a strong allegation that the reason for this year's flood is that the Thottapalli sandbar was not opened on time. Several houses were flooded following the bund collapse in Kainakary's Aaru pangu, Cheru Kayal and Parithivilavu ​​areas. Efforts are underway to block the bund and drain the water here. Thomas K. Thomas MLA has submitted a memorandum to the Revenue and Civil Supplies Ministers, demanding that the operation of the food distribution centres continue until the water recedes to the point where it is possible to cook food in the houses.

Rain of broken promises

The broken promises include the Rs 3400 crore package announced by former Finance Minister Thomas Isaac in two budgets, the construction of shelter homes in 12 panchayats of Kuttanad from the Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund for flood prevention activities, the reconstruction of bridges and culverts in the AC Canal by increasing their height to facilitate water flow, the reconstruction of all public institutions in Kuttanad in a flood-proof manner, and the project through KIIFB to strengthen the outer bund using mud collected from the canals. The Swaminathan Commission proposed to strengthen and widen the bunds of the paddy fields using the soil obtained when the silt and mud accumulated in the leading channel of the Thottapalli spillway were removed, but this has not been implemented.

People are asking where the Rs 74 crore allocated for flood control in Kuttanad in the 2020 budget was spent. The government has also not taken the demand for the formation of a Kuttanad Development Authority at face value. Six years have passed since the Chief Minister announced the 'Room for River' project on the Dutch model to prevent floods.

Other needs

• The shutter system of the Thottapalli spillway should be computerized based on the water level in the Pampa and the leading channel

• An agricultural calendar is needed for Kuttanad